The government's chief legal adviser visited Coventry to find out how improvements to the prosecution service are working in the region.

Lord Goldsmith, the Attorney General, visited the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) at Friars House, in Friars Road, city centre, to meet and speak to staff.

The West Midlands is piloting a number of initiatives within the criminal justice system.

These include police and prosecution services working more closely together to bring right charges at the right time, offering greater support to victims and witnesses and managing trials to ensure fewer cases collapse when they get to court.

Lord Goldsmith said: "We need to recognise the work that is done to deliver the criminal justice system on the ground. The system needs to be flexible to meet the needs of individual communities.

"For Coventry and the West Midlands, the particular problems include levels of street crime, drugs, and dealing with ethnic tensions."

He also recognised that for most people anti-social behaviour was the biggest concern and that more needed to be done to gain confidence in the system.

Lord Goldsmith said: "We need to put much more effort into tackling anti-social behaviour. These are crimes that effect people's quality of life.

"The misery of coming back home after an evening to find a gang of rowdy, abusive youths on the corner of the estate is a major concern for many people.

"New powers have been passed and are helping to tackle this problem."

When quizzed about unsuccessful charges which have followed high profile arrests under the Terrorism Act, Lord Goldsmith said public confidence should not be dented.

He said: "Confidence can be affected by one or two headlines. But 1.4 million crimes a year go through the magistrates and crown courts in the country. We have to judge the success of the criminal justice system on these cases and not the failure of a few high profile cases."

The West Midlands' chief crown prosecutor, David Blundell, who met the Attorney General, added that planned improvements were set to transform the criminal justice system in the region within the next year.